Dating backdown by bureaucrats over BC/AD, according to a media release from Senator Brett Mason, Shadow Minister for Universities and Research in the Australian Federal Parliament. As we reported in Evidence News 7 September 2011, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), had decided to replace use of BC and AD dates with the terms BCE “Before Common Era”, and CE “Common Era”, and BP “Before Present”. However, following a strong community reaction against the change ACARA have now reversed the decision and will retain the use of BC and AD in the national history curriculum dates.

Senator Mason commented: “This decision created major community outcry and no wonder. The BC/AD designation is the best known and most commonly used when writing about historical events in the English language, going back fifteen hundred years. Ask people in the street and I will be surprised if more than 5 per cent know what BCE/CE means, whereas the significance of BC and AD would be almost universally known”.

An explanation of the terms BCE, CE and BP will be inserted into the curriculum, so that students will know what they are if they come across them in their reading. Senator Mason said “This seems to be an appropriate reflection of the state of affairs: while BC and AD are universally used, other designations, such as BCE, CE and BP are merely used within academia. It is important that students are aware of this fact, but it is just as important that they continue to work within the traditional BC/AD framework”. Mason concluded: “The retention of BC/AD as the dating designations in the history curriculum is a victory of common sense”.

Editorial Comment: This backdown is certainly a victory for common sense, but more importantly it is a triumph of historical reality over an atheistic Governmental regime that is determined to deny and remove Christ, who as Creator and Saviour is Lord of history. We cannot ignore the fact that the most important event in the history of mankind, after Creation and the Fall, is the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ. Those who deliberately ignore this will not be ready when Christ comes again to put an end to the history of this world, and to judge those who rejected Him (Ref. dates, chronology, calendar)